On Wednesday morning the recently empty halls of Barnstable Public Schools will again fill with the sounds of students as they chatter happily about summer adventures, homeroom teachers and who read the most books on the summer reading list.

While the first day of school is a yearly occurrence, the 2007-2008 school year will no doubt be an eventful year for students and staff alike.

This year there is the excitement of meeting new principals and teachers and of discovering new ways to learn, and there is also a touch of sadness as the final classes of students make their way through Osterville Bay Elementary School, set to close in June of 2008.

Barnstable Superintendent Dr. Patricia Grenier looks forward to the moment when school doors open again to welcome in young learners. "It's not so much about what's new," she said. "It's that we stay very focused on our goal that we're clear on what our kids should know and how we respond when kids don't learn. Everyone is working hard on meeting those goals for all kids."

Yesterday and today Grenier and her administration welcomed 30 new teachers and administrators to the Barnstable School District at an orientation held at Barnstable High School.

Among the district's new staffers are Barnstable Middle School principal Lisa Chen, Centerville Elementary School principal Matthew Scheufele (pronounced Shy-flee), and Marstons Mills East Horace Mann Charter Public School interim principal Ken Keenan.

Chen is a firm believer in the "it takes a village" mindset, staunch in her opinion that a successful school is the result of a community effort. "I can't do it alone. I believe in shared leadership," she said. "It takes an entire community. This is our school. These are our students. When they graduate and come back, they are still our students."

Ken Keenan is stepping into his administrative role in the wake of former principal Ed Deusser's retirement at the end of the 2007 school year.

Keenan has been a teacher at the MMEHMCPS for 17 years and has seen the school progress from a regular public elementary school to a Horace Mann Charter School, before last year being named an Accelerated Schools Plus national demonstration site.

"The ASPlus program is a powerful model we as a whole school community are fully committed to," Keenan said in his principal's letter on the school's website. "We celebrate our many successes but look forward to our continued growth as our community travels this path together supporting each other along the way."

Perhaps the most intriguing addition to the Barnstable Public Schools is Centerville principal Matthew Scheufele, a graduate of Centerville Elementary. "It feels like coming home to me," he said of his position.

Scheufele became Centerville's new principal after Sheila Burns retired last year and is eagerly waiting for the first day of school. "I am looking forward to having students come through the building," he said. "It's too quiet without students."

Educated at Eastern Nazarene College in Quincy and Bridgewater State, Scheufele has been an elementary school teacher since 1995. "What's special about this age group? Their curiosity," he said. "I think kids at this age are very eager to learn and explore their world. That to me is very motivational."

School opens officially Wednesday morning, beginning with Barnstable High School and followed by Barnstable Middle School and Barnstable's elementary schools.